Transit agency votes today on toll lanes for I-405

Cars move slowly along the 405 northbound in this photo from May 2012. Orange County transportation directors are scheduled to vote Friday on whether to convert the crowded carpool lanes on I-405 to tolled &#8220;express&#8221; lanes. The idea has kicked up fierce opposition in cities along the freeway and has divided county leaders for months. FILE: ROD VEAL, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

OCTA meeting

• When: 9 a.m. Friday.

• Where: OCTA headquarters, 550 S. Main St., in Orange.

• On the agenda: A proposal to replace the carpool lanes in each direction of I-405 with two "express" toll lanes.

Graphics

Orange County transportation directors are scheduled to vote Friday on whether to convert the crowded carpool lanes on I-405 to tolled “express” lanes. The idea has kicked up fierce opposition in cities along the freeway and has divided county leaders for months. Here’s what it’s all about:

Q. What’s the proposal?

A. The Orange County Transportation Authority is spending more than $1 billion to build at least one new free lane in each direction of I-405. The toll proposal would piggyback on that project. It would preserve those new free lanes, but would also replace the carpool lanes with two pay-to-ride express lanes in each direction. Those express lanes would be open to anyone, even solo drivers – for a price.

Q. Is it going to pass?

A. OCTA staff has recommended that the board approve the toll proposal. But a committee of board members who reviewed the proposal earlier this week recommended instead that the full board step back and take more time. It concluded that key questions – including how the toll money would be used – remain unanswered, and cities along the freeway remain bitterly opposed to tolls.

Nine board members have now voted against moving forward with the toll proposal right now, a majority on the 17-member board. Four of them oppose the idea of tolls altogether; five others voted at the committee meeting to postpone the decision, possibly until next spring, without ruling on it one way or the other.

On Thursday, the chairman of the OCTA board, Greg Winterbottom, sent a memo indicating that he would ask that Friday’s scheduled debate and vote be continued until early December.

Q. How much would the tolls cost?

A. The peak toll – for a driver headed north in the thick of rush hour – would be $9.91 for a one-way trip on Orange County’s 14-mile stretch of I-405, according to early OCTA projections. By comparison, tolls on the 91 Express Lanes top out at $9.55 for a 10-mile ride.

The peak southbound toll would be $6.11, according to the OCTA projections. Average tolls, not during rush hour, would be around $5.93 northbound and $4.88 southbound. Those are projections only; the OCTA would finalize the rates after a closer study of traffic and revenue.

Q. What are the arguments against tolls?

A. “This would be a tax on a tax on a tax,” Huntington Beach Mayor Connie Boardman said at a recent forum on the toll proposal. She and other critics point out that Orange County residents already pay a half-cent sales tax for transportation projects – including those on I-405 – as well as state and federal gasoline taxes.

The voters who backed that half-cent sales tax thought they were getting one free lane in each direction on I-405, not toll lanes. “It’s an insult, really, to the people who voted” for the sales-tax measure, Fountain Valley councilman John Collins said.

The cities that line the freeway also worry that the tolls will worsen freeway congestion and chase traffic onto their side streets. At the same time, they say people who pay tolls are less likely to get off the freeway, costing their businesses customers.

Q. What are the arguments for tolls?

A. California doesn’t get enough money from the gas tax alone to keep up with even basic maintenance of its freeways. It estimates that it needs more than $7 billion a year just for maintenance; it gets around $2 billion.

Tolls represent “a funding mechanism that you can control,” Lucy Dunn, a state transportation commissioner and president of the Orange County Business Council, told OCTA board members this week.

The proposed express lanes would also allow the freeway to move more cars, according to OCTA projections – 9,500 vehicles per hour, compared with 7,200 with the new free lanes alone.

That would help Caltrans address a federal mandate that it get traffic moving better in congested carpool lanes like those on I-405 or risk losing federal funding and approvals. Caltrans owns the freeway and has made clear that it will consider enacting tolls if the OCTA does not.

Related Links

Cars move slowly along the 405 northbound in this photo from May 2012. Orange County transportation directors are scheduled to vote Friday on whether to convert the crowded carpool lanes on I-405 to tolled “express” lanes. The idea has kicked up fierce opposition in cities along the freeway and has divided county leaders for months. FILE: ROD VEAL, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Seth Eaker, a member of the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce, expressed concerns about a proposed toll lane that would run along the 405-freeway during a community meeting in Westminster in late October. FILE: JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A panel of leaders from Orange County cities that touch the 405 freeway listen to Seal Beach City Councilman Gary A. Miller express concerns about toll lanes in a community meeting in October. FILE: JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Leaders from Orange County cities that touch the 405 freeway listen to county Supervisor John Moorlach express concerns about toll lanes at a community meeting in October. FILE: JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Commuters travel the 405 near Westminster Boulevard in Westminster in late October. Orange County transportation directors are scheduled to vote Friday on whether to convert the crowded carpool lanes to toll lanes. FILE: KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Ellery A. Deaton, mayor pro tem of Seal Beach, expressed concerns about proposed toll lanes in a meeting in October. FILE: JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Diana Carey, a member of the Westminster City Council, speaks at the meeting in October over toll lanes. FILE: JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Cars move slowly along the northbound 405 in May 2012. Transportation directors are voting Friday on whether to convert carpool lanes to toll lanes. FILE: ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.